Troy
by Colinsand
Summary: Team Angel are working on an extortion case, however they have picked up an extra member a mystic named Troy, who they all seem to remember as being a permanent member of the team. Who is Troy really? And what exactly is he up to? COMPLETE
1. Trojan

"TROY"

"**TROY"**

Author's note: This story is entirely separate from the Alternate Season Five series I'm writing.

**Part One: Trojan**

There were seven vampires in the gang. In exchange for their "protection" they "requested" that the human owner of the demon-friendly bar _Lucky Joe's_ pay them a fee of two fresh young humans, twice a week, as a thank you for their generosity. Failure to pay would result in the withdrawal of their "generous" protection, and the bar would get trashed, customers would get attacked, the business would be wrecked. After all there were all sorts of ruffians roaming the streets. With out protection how would Joe know he was safe?

Not the most spectacularly original idea in the history of grand criminal schemes, but an effective one nonetheless.

This was a simple case of extortion. And Joe, the owner of the bar, had turned to Angel Investigations, Detective Agency, for help in getting out of the dreadful mess that he was caught in.

Angel Investigations was very different from your usual sort of detective agency. To start with, the eponymous Angel wasn't a human being, he was a vampire. And not just any "normal" run-of-the-mill vampire either, Angel was a vampire with a soul. He is on a quest to try and atone for the many, many terrible sins he committed before a gypsy curse returned his soul to him. Through Angel Investigations he was able to give help to those who needed him most.

Angel Investigations however was not just Angel working as an individual, he was not a lone warrior against the forces of evil. Angel Investigations was a team. A team dedicated to fighting the more unusual and inhuman evils that lurked in the shadows of the City of Angels.

Cordelia Chase had once been a very popular rich girl who had everything she could ever want: The latest fashions, a flashy sports car, dozens of eager friends. But that was before the IRS caught up with her father who had somehow managed to "accidentally forget" to pay his taxes. Cordelia, all of a sudden poor, fallen from her mega popular status, came to the bright shiny lights of Los Angeles searching for her fortune in the form of a glittering career in acting. Instead she found Angel who she already knew from getting caught up in the wacky supernatural weirdness in Sunnydale. It wasn't long before the moment came, that crucial turning point when her life changed forever. A kiss from the half demon Francis Doyle, moments before his heroic sacrifice, resulted in her receiving visions of those that were in need of the agency's aid, sent to her by the Powers That Be. These visions from above were sent in order to point Angel in the right direction in his great mission to help the helpless.

Wesley Wyndam-Pryce a former Watcher. He had been sacked by the Watchers Council after the Slayer in his charge, Faith, turned bad, causing the Watcher's Council, and the other Slayer Buffy Summers, no end of trouble. Afterward Wesley became a "rogue demon hunter" putting his extensive knowledge of demonology and his reasonable fighting skills to good use; Battling evil in his own small way. Wesley and Angel came together after they found themselves working on the same case. Shortly after that Wesley had joined Angel Investigations permanently and in fact was now, officially, the boss.

Charles Gunn formally led a group in one of the poorest, most rundown areas of L.A. They fought back against the vampires that violently terrorised the streets where they lived. He had joined Angel Investigations, despite his deep disgust and distrust of vampires and strong ties to his group. He had realised that with Angel, and the others, he could take his fight against evil to a whole new level, protecting not only his own, but he could make a real difference to anyone needing protection from the threat of demons.

Winifred Burkle, or Fred as she preferred, was the most recent addition to the team. She had been taken by a portal to another dimension called Pylea, where humans were classed as the lowest of slaves. After a vision from Cordelia, Angel and team had travelled to Pylea and rescued her. After a period of adjustment Fred had become an invaluable asset to Angel Investigations' fight with her brilliant intellect and amazing problem solving capability.

And finally the strong and powerful Warlock, Troy. He came from a harsh childhood on the mean streets of New York. Forced to watch his parents die at the hands of a vampire had left him deeply scarred. He lived on, not knowing the power that was within. A chance meeting with a Wicca resulted in the surprising discovery that he had the potential of a great Warlock. After spending several years in training with her he began his own small fight, driven by a thirst for revenge. And after losing his wife too to a vampire he vowed on her memory to combat evil every day and in every way he could.

Angel had met him just over a year ago and since then they had been good friends. Troy's skill with both blade and magic meant that he was also a very formidable warrior.

Now it was late. After two am. And even though it was a demon friendly bar it was past closing time. Together the whole of the Angel Investigations team waited, hidden in various places in and around _Lucky Joe's_. They were all ready to take on the vampires when they showed up to collect.

Joe was standing behind the bar, cleaning glasses. In the large store room in the back Cordelia and Fred were neatly tied up and gagged, playing the part of the payment. Neither of them had been particularly happy about being the bait in the trap.

Angel was outside, crouched on a shadowy rooftop across from the bar. He would go in and attack the vampires from behind once the action started.

Gunn was acting as one of the bar staff; he was looking busy pretending to polish tables. For weaponry he was armed with a carefully concealed stake.

Troy was hiding, crouching in one of the private booths near the back, his sword ready to be pulled out and used.

Wesley was in the car, parked a short distance down the street from the bar, sitting as inconspicuously as he could. His role was the same as Angel's.

They had been there for some time, the vampires were late. Doubt was beginning to creep into their minds. Did they somehow know about the ambush? Surely they couldn't.

Then to Angel's relief he spotted their big red battered van turn into the street and race towards the bar. Wesley ducked down out of sight. The van screeched to a halt and the vampires all jumped out. All were in full vampire mode, narrow eyes, and elongated fangs. Obviously they wanted to be as intimidating as possible.

When the side door was opened Angel was horrified to see that inside the van there were four people, humans, they were unconscious and tied up in the back. One of the vampires closed the door, hiding the kidnapped innocents from view. He also saw that Joe had failed to take into account the van's driver when telling them how many enemies they would be facing. The driver remained behind the wheel. Angel knew that he had to save those people too. Even though that would delay him from getting into the bar once things started, but he was sure the others would be able to handle the ambush for the time he needed.

The seven vampires swaggered into _Lucky Joe's_ as if they owned the place. Gunn deliberately didn't look up and focused on the job of cleaning the table. Troy whispered a small protection spell so that their heightened senses wouldn't detect his presence.

"Hello Joe." The tall muscular leader said in a mocking tone, a fang baring grin on his face. Two of the vampires remained on watch at the door, arms crossed like a pair of bouncers.

"H-hello." Joe replied shakily, beads of sweat gathering on his forehead. Two of the vampires took seats on stools at the bar.

"You have our payment?" The leader asked.

"Y…yes, of course." Troy was afraid that Joe was going to give the game away.

"Well, let's see them then!" Leader shouted impatiently. Joe turned and went through to the back. The leader and his most trusted pair of vampires followed him.

The leader was named Mac, taken from his living name of Ben McCormick. In life he had been a U.S Army soldier fighting against the Nazi evil in Europe. After being parachute dropped behind enemy lines in France he had become separated from the rest of his Company. It wasn't long before he stumbled across a farmhouse. Hoping that he might find a hot meal and a bath he went straight over to it.

Inside he found a family of vampires that hadn't fed for several days. They drunk his blood and turned him, telling him that during the war was a great time to be a vampire, a real chance for the species to increase its numbers. No one would notice a few young fit solders disappearing after all.

A year after the war ended he left his adopted vampire family and returned to his native Los Angeles. Since then he had been getting involve in various low key criminal activities. Back in '98 had had thought up his extortion plan, similar to one he had been the muscle of in the late fifties. Now he was the boss, and loving every minute of it.

Joe opened the door to the store room and stepped back. Mac went in first.

"Well, well, you have done a good job tonight. These two are fine specimens." He walked over and put a hand in Cordelia's cheek. "Very fine indeed."

XXX

Angel leapt off the roof as Wesley climbed out of the car, both with a well sharpened stake in hand.

Angel sprinted over and knocked on the driver's street facing side window. The driver frowned and waved for him to go away. Angel shook his head. The driver's expression angered a little and he waved again, this time more insistently. When Angel shook his head again the driver's face morphed, unleashing his demonic features. Angel stood firm. The enraged driver opened the door and Angel stepped back to let him out of the van.

"Ok wise guy, I'm going to teach you a…" Angel pierced the vampire's heart with a swift jab. As the dust swirled off on the light breeze Angel got into the van.

Wesley hid the stake up his sleeve and walked casually into the bar. One of the two guards snarled at him.

"Get lost!" He commanded, fiery menace in his yellow eyes. Wesley let the stake drop into his right hand and plunged it into the vampire's chest. He ducked as the other guard swung a fist at him through the cloud of ash.

As soon as Wesley entered the bar Gunn put down his cloth and began moving in on the pair at the bar. Troy slowly stood, gripping the handle of his sword tightly.

When Wesley dusted the first vamp Gunn rushed in on the one closest to him at the bar, pulling out his stake. The vampire leapt off the barstool and blocked Gunn's attempt to slay him. The two began exchanging and blocking blows. The other seated vampire did not just sit idle. He moved in to attack Gunn from behind with his barstool. But before he could smash he stool down on Gunn's head, Troy's sword sliced through his neck, separating head from shoulders. The stool clattered to the floor as the hand holding his disintegrated.

Mac heard the noise of the stool hitting the floor and nodded to his two guards.

"Go and see what is going on." He ordered. The vampires rushed out of the room, heading back to the bar.

As soon as he saw Wesley take out the first enemy Angel started up the van and accelerated away. He pulled up behind the parked car that Wesley had been hiding in. Angel got out and opened the sliding side door. Angel used a small knife to cut the tight rope bonds of the kidnapped victims and after checking that none of them were injured, as well as a few words of reassurance that they would be alright, he left them running at full speed for _Lucky Joe's_ to help the others with the fight.

Troy turned to face the two vampires that emerged from the back room as they leapt over the bar, his sword at the ready. They hesitated when they saw the magnificently decorated sword and the determined look on the wielder's face. Troy used this moment of apprehension to take a swing at the neck of the nearest one. The demonic reflexes allowed him duck below the swipe. Troy continued the movement and blocked a punch from the other beast with the sword's hilt. With a flick of the wrist he spun the blade round and sliced the punching hand off at the wrist. The vampire yelled in pain and took rapid steps backward. Troy side-stepped as the first vampire kicked out. He jumped into the air and twisted round, the sword was used again to amputate the leg. The vampire rapidly hopped and flapped his arms frantically in an attempt to keep his balance.

Angel stormed into the bar. He saw Troy strike a fatal blow to the neck of a vampire in doing an impression of a stork trying to take off. The other one was missing a hand.

"Troy! Go and get Cordy and Fred!" He shouted. Troy glanced round and nodded. He leapt over the bar and headed for the back room. Angel rushed in to take on the one handed vampire. He lashed out with a powerful right fist, the vampire using his intact arm to block. The vampire then unleashed a kick and Angel took the boot in the face with a grunt. He was knocked onto his back by the force of the blow. The vampire picked up one of the barstools and held it over Angel, the wooden leg poised above his vulnerable heart.

Troy moved along the corridor as quietly as possible, hoping for the element of surprise against his foe. But surprising a vampire was not the easiest thing in the world to do. Enhanced vampire senses were difficult for a human to stay hidden from. He had managed it in the bar only by carefully controlling his breathing and remaining perfectly still. Now he was on the move and breathing deeply from the fight. That made it unlikely that he would be able to surprise the vampire, but there was a chance and so he had to take it. Troy knew well that any potential advantage had to be seized when combating a demon.

XXX

Mac suddenly straightened, alerted by a sound from the corridor. Someone was coming. Whatever was going on, the enemy must be fairly good, after all the rest of his gang hadn't been able to hold them off. But Mac hadn't spend his vampire years idly. He had spent several years training hard in the fighting arts.

He looked to Joe the guilty look on his face said it all.

"You!" Mac Sneered. "You are trying to get out of our little deal!" Joe's eyes widened.

"No! No, not me, I wouldn't" Joe backed away, against the wall.

"Liar!" Mac hissed. He looked over to Fred and Cordelia. "At least your last payment was a good one" He pulled out his sword, a blade he had been using since the early nineties.

"Please, no." Joe managed to gasp before the tip of the sword slashed across his throat. The blood flowed and Mac stepped back as the body fell

Fred's eyes widened and she made a muffled scream. Cordelia just closed her eyes.

Mac smiled and then turned; ready to face whoever dared to enter the room.

XXX

Troy kicked the door open and tensed his muscles for the battle ahead. The room appeared to be empty apart from the girls, still tied up and gagged. Both wide-eyed Troy nodded. They were signalling to the right. Troy dived into the room, quickly rolling up onto his feet, narrowly avoiding the vampire leader's strike. Troy spun to face the doorway just in time to block another attack.

"Who are you?" Mac demanded. Who was this fool who dared to interfere with his operation?

"My name is Troy." They separated and took a few steps apart.

"But who are you? Why are you getting involved?"

"I work with a friend of mine, you may have heard of him. His name is Angel."

"Angel! Yes I have heard that name, the traitor! You will die!" Mac moved in, making strong wild swings. Troy hadn't been expecting this so suddenly and had to make several awkward, desperate blocks and quick steps of retreat.

Mac made a horizontal swing, Troy managed to bat the blade away with an upward block, the force of the blow wrenching the sword from Mac's grip.

The vampire stumbled back, Troy raised the sword over his shoulder tensing his muscles, and then he swept it down with the force and speed of a lightning bolt, aimed right for the vampire's neck.

With more luck than skill Mac twisted his body and the blade sliced through the air and caught the edge of his ear, ripping it free from his head. Mac grimaced in pain as he stepped back to avoid another attempt at his neck by a hair's breadth.

Again, again. Troy swung with all his might, but the lead vampire's ducking, dodging and backward steps succeeded in keeping his head firmly on his shoulders but the vampire was being backed closer and closer to the wall. When he reached it, he would be finished.

XXX

Angel swept his right hand over his chest and obstructed the stool leg with his open palm. Summoning the hateful demonic strength within him he pushed against the other vampire, propelling the stool into the contorted features of the demon. As the vampire reeled back from the impact Angel had the time he needed to get back on his feet. The vampire was still holding into the barstool, and he brought it crashing down on Angel's head. The wood shattered and flew off in all directions. One of the larger pieces stabbed deep into Angel's shoulder. He gasped as he painfully pulled it back out. The vampire took advantage of this distraction and punched him on the right cheek.

However at that exact same instant Angel brought the splinter of barstool into play, thrusting it into the chest of the demon.

The vampire's skin turned grey, then black, many decades of decomposition taking place in less than a second. Next the body collapsed and crumbled to dust.

Angel took a second to regain his composure and looked round. Gunn was finishing off his foe and Wesley was standing breathlessly beside a patch of dusty floor.

XXX

Mac risked a glance over his shoulder; he was only a couple of steps from the wall. Desperately he searched his mind of any way to avoid dying his second death at the hands of this man.

Troy made another swipe, knowing that on his next the vampire would be dust. The vampire leader ducked low and twisted at the same time. As soon as Mac was in a crouch, half facing the wall, he leapt.

Using all the vampiric strength he could muster to propel himself up and towards the wall. His hands and feet barely touched the wall as he clawed his way to further heights. Just before he met the ceiling Mac pushed off with all fours, pulling his limbs tight to his body as he tumbled back. As gravity took hold he stretched his feet out and prepared for impact. With a savage grin he landed on both feet with a thud, his legs bending to absorb the force.

Troy was taken by surprise at the sudden burst of acrobatics from the vampire. He looked up but couldn't follow the incredibly fast progress of the demon as he raced up the wall. Suddenly he felt a hand clawing at the top of his head, pulling him back with overpowering force. At the same time he felt another hand snatch at his sword hand, wrapping tightly around the wrist, compelling him to let go of the weapon. Troy slammed onto the hard floor, a crack resounding in his ears as his skull met concrete. Bright flashes of gold and patches of murky black floated across his vision. The back of his head had a sharp pain that almost convinced Troy that a railroad spike had been impaled through the skull.

Troy fought through the pain and blinking rapidly to clear the flashing haze.

Mac gave a cry of victory, looking down at the stunned fool, a pool of blood beginning to spread under the head. The eyes fluttered, his enemy trying to stay conscious. When he was sure the enemy could understand what was happening Mac snatched up the dropped sword of the enemy.

Troy saw his blade, wielded by the demon, hovering inches from his neck. The fire in his mind prevented him from doing anything about it.

"Goodbye fool" Mac sneered. Troy looked back in determination, focusing on the blade. An expression of confusion spread across the vampire's features as he struggled to bring the sword down on the throat of his defeated adversary.

It was taking pure focus and strength of will, plus a little magic, for Troy to keep the blade from decapitating him. But he was fighting a losing battle. Slowly but very surely the tip of the blade was getting closer and closer. And Troy was getting weaker and weaker. He wouldn't be able to hold off the vampire for much longer,

_All of this careful planning and preparation! All for nothing!_ He thought as he felt the cold metal of the sword came into contact with his skin. Another moment and it would be over.

Without warning the vampire's look of confusion changed to one of panic.

Mac felt something penetrate his back and into his unbeating dead heart. He was finished. With so much still to do his long unlife was over.

A final cry of defeat.

Then a wave of unstoppable black raced over Mac's body, the skin becoming dark flakes. The wave of death didn't stop at the skin, as always it consumed the innards and bones too. The cracking charcoal remains burst apart in a shower of ash.

A hand darted through the dust and grabbed hold of the sword's handle, preventing it under the influence of gravity from killing him, and tossed the blade to the floor. Troy breathed a sigh of relief as the face of his saviour came into view.

"Troy." Angel said with deep concern for his friend. "Are you alright?"

"Thank you." Troy smiled. _Not a complete waste after all_ was his last thought before the blackness took him.

XXX

"Troy can you hear me?" A voice called from beyond the darkness of unconsciousness. Troy forced himself back to the land of the living. He opened his eyes, slowly to allow them to get used to the sudden light. When his eyes had adjusted he saw the smiling face of Cordelia Chase looking down at him.

"You gave us quite a scare mister." And she playfully punched him on the arm. Troy returned the smile. He knew exactly where he was: his room in the Hyperion Hotel.

_Even unconscious, it still works_. He grinned inwardly to himself.

"I feel much better." Troy sat up, forcing himself to ignore the pain.

"No, no you are staying in bed." Cordelia told him. "You've been out of it for almost twenty-four hours. You need to rest." Troy shook his head.

"I'm going to go and see a friend of mine, a healer. She'll have me good as new in no time." Cordelia still wasn't convinced. Then memories of an earlier time surfaced in her mind. A few months ago when Troy had been stabbed in combat and he had gone to see his healer friend. Troy had returned without a scratch.

"Oh the healer that helped you when you got stabbed." She nodded. "Ok I'll come with you."

"No Cordelia, it's fine, she prefers it if the patient comes alone." Troy swung his legs out of the bed and got to his feet. Cordy reluctantly agreed.

"Angel, Gunn and Fred have gone to see a family about a possible poltergeist situation. Mr and Mrs Lewis plus kids I think. They left me to look after you."

"When they get back, tell them that I won't be long." Troy said as they walked out of the room. Troy was fiddling with the bracelet on his right wrist. It was gold with a sparkling crystal embedded in a circular amulet attached to the chain.

"You miss her don't you?" Cordelia asked. She was referring to the wife that she believed Troy had told her and the gang about when they had first met. In her mind the bracelet he always wore was a gift from his wife the day before she was killed in a vampire attack. Cordelia and the others knew that Troy never took it off and that he hated anyone else ever touching it.

"Yes, she was everything to me." A solitary tear ran down Troy's cheek. "Not a day goes by that I don't wish that she was still with me." They walked the rest of the way down to the lobby in silence. Cordelia didn't know what to say.

"I'll see you soon." Troy said with a friendly little wave and went out of the hotel. His head still throbbing with pain in the background.

Cordelia watched, feeling pangs of sympathy for his suffering. He had had a hard life, but she was glad that he had found a place where he was happy. Here at Angel Investigations she knew that this life was the life he was meant to lead.

XXX

As soon as he was out of the Hyperion Hotel a wide grin stretched across his features, despite the pain of his head injury. He was pleased. Pleased with his Oscar-deserving performance of the grieving widower.

From a concealed pocket in his robes he pulled out a small mobile phone and hit the only speed-dial number programmed in.

"Troy." The stern female voice on the other side of the connection greeted.

"Yes." His tone was equally business-like.

"I trust that everything is going well?"

"Yes, all is going exactly to plan."

"Excellent." He could hear the satisfaction in the voice of his employer.

"I'm coming in to give you my report." Troy said. "And I need a healer. I took a bad blow to the head."

"Of course, one will be here waiting for you when you arrive."

"Fine. I'll see you then." Troy ended the call and tucked the phone back into its hiding place. He walked for a few more blocks before he reached the waiting black sedan. He got into the back and without a word the driver started up the engine and pulled away from the curb.

When the car came to a smooth halt at his destination, Troy and the driver climbed out. The driver led him over to the lift doors of the only elevator in the underground car park.

They rode the elevator in silence and they both got out when the doors slid open. Troy followed the driver along the pristine corridor. The driver stopped at one of the doors and knocked on it before opening it and stepping back. Troy walked into the office. He had been in it only once before. The woman in the sharp looking business suit smiled at him as the driver closed the door behind him. Troy strode to the desk she was sitting at. They shook hands. Her firm grip easily matching his.

"Take a seat." The woman motioned to the leather chair, not as good as her luxurious executive chair, but still very comfortable. Her tone made it clear that it was an order, not an invitation. As he sat down Troy looked over to the only other person in the room, the tall healer dressed in white. She was standing at the window, looking out over the sparkling cityscape of Los Angeles.

"So any problems so far?" The woman asked.

"None at all Miss Morgan, none at all." Troy smiled and so did Lilah Morgan, head of special projects at Wolfram and Hart, his employer.

"You've had a busy first couple of days. You can tell me all about it while the healer gets to work." Lilah said and nodded to the healer who came over and began waving her hands over Troy's injured skull. Troy winced as he felt the strange tingling sensation of magical rapid healing.

"Now Troy, tell me everything." Lilah leaned forward eagerly. Troy waited a second for the tingling to subside a little and then he began his report.

"None of them suspect. The whole plan has come together perfectly."

Lilah smiled. That was exactly what she wanted to hear.

**TO BE CONTINUED…**


	2. Draining

"TROY"

**Part Two: Draining**

_Two Days Previously…_

Troy stood outside the Hyperion Hotel, the Wolfram and Hart limousine driving off. He cleared his thoughts, breathing slow and deep.

This was it. It was time.

The biggest trick he had ever been hired for. An operation that was much bigger than he was, but it depended entirely on his success. Lilah Morgan had impressed upon him the importance of his part. He had to set Angel Investigations up and make sure that everything was in place when the order came.

So this was it. It would take concentration and focus of power that was on a level well above anything he had ever done before. A couple of days of preparation and meditation had allowed him to create the bracelet. He took it out from one of the pockets in his robe and clasped it onto his wrist. It had begun. The crystal on the bracelet was now connected to him, physically and metaphysically.

Now he was ready to work his magic.

After one final deep breath he was all geared up for action. Troy stepped forward and into the Hyperion Hotel

There in the lobby he found them all, all five of the targets. The was good fortune as it would have been much more difficult to work with minds at different stages of the spell.

In that moment of entry he absorbed a massive amount of information from their minds. He knew what they expected him to do, what would make them feel most at ease.

"Is this Angel Investigations?" Troy asked, the glowing bracelet hidden from view.

"Yes, how can we help." The English guy, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, ex-Watcher, expert in demonology.

"I've heard that you are the people to talk to about…things of…unusual nature." He tried to sound as if he was a little unsure about talking to this detective agency. He found, in their minds, that their clients were often nervous and disbelieving about their supernatural experiences.

"Well you've come to the right place." The young woman that he identified as Cordelia Chase, the seer, he could sense all of the pain and suffering that she had kept hidden from her friends, the fact that the visions were slowly but surely killing her.

"Thank goodness." He was already working his magic. By now they were starting to get a sense of familiarity, the imagining that they had met him before somewhere.

"I'm Angel" The imposing figure dressed in dark clothing took a few steps towards Troy. "These are my associates: Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, Cordelia Chase, Charles Gunn and Winifred Burkle." He motioned to each member of the group in turn. Troy nodded.

"My name is Troy." His tone carefully controlled. _Troy?_ His targets were thinking, _that name sounds familiar_. His magic was forming little sparks of recognition. The hard part was taking these sparks and fuelling them with memories, memories that would slowly cause their minds to believe that he was a good friend of theirs, that he was a vital part of the team at Angel Investigations. But the process could not be rushed, it had to be done slowly and carefully, if one of them realised what he was doing at this early stage then it would all be over before he had really gotten started.

"What can we do for you?" Wesley asked. Troy looked to the ground, putting on an act of sorrow, while through the crystal on his wrist he started to build the memories, build the illusion and the trust. He looked up, tears welling in his eyes.

"It's my wife." He paused, looking down again. They were all thinking the same thoughts, the thoughts he wanted them to think.

_His wife? What's happened to his wife?_

"She…"

It must be terrible, he can't bring himself to say it.

"She was murdered." Troy swallowed hard, adding a shaky, grief filled quality to his voice. "Murdered by hideous creatures. Animals." Troy was using this tale as a foundation for all of his illusion. In their minds he told this story the first time they had met him. They were soon to think that he had told them about this just over a year ago.

"After she died. I didn't know what to do, after seeing her die, nothing seemed to matter anymore." He was drawing them in. They were all completely focused on his tale of woe, allowing him to form more and more connections, making them feel more and more relaxed and trusting.

"I couldn't just sit alone and do nothing." He looked up at them with defiant eyes. "As a child my parents were killed by vampires too. After that I met a Wicca who told me that I had a certain talent. She taught me all about demons and she taught me about magic." Letting them know that he was skilled with magic was a bit of a gamble, but it also reinforced how he could be useful as part of Angel Investigations. They didn't have a powerful magic user in their group at this time.

"But I never really used my skill, not really. I used it to defend myself from attack. And even though I had the power I still couldn't save her." He let angry emotions show amongst his grief. "I can't just not use my power anymore. I have to do something. I have recently started fighting demons. Killing them." It came like a flood. They all now trusted him completely. Slowly his influence expanded through their minds, all of them feeling sympathetic towards him, none of them even slightly suspecting that they were being manipulated.

The trick at this point was to keep concentration high, to make sure that the spell took a firm hold, that there were no gaps in memory that would cause the victims to realise that something was wrong. This was particularly important in the case of the vampire as he would have a better memory that his friends.

"So I heard about you, this agency. It seems that we both have the same goals, the same mission. Surely it would make sense for us to work together." They all nodded slowly, not entirely living in this moment as this little scene was forming in their memories of just over a year ago. This scene made up several memories: Their first meeting and also the personal stuff like the murder of his wife and the murder of his parents.

I order to make his job a little bit easier he was integrating himself into already existing memories, that way he did not need to have total mind control, no destabilisation of personalities- a severe risk if memories were manipulated too much, too quickly or just plain too carelessly.

Troy's instructions were clear: Lure them into false security, false trust, manipulate their memories so that they considered him to be one of them. After that was done things would start getting interesting, but his employers hadn't really revealed the exact details of their plan to him, but he knew the basics.

"That's great guys. I'm sure we'll make a great team." Never changing his tone when he spoke, always keeping it gentle and clear. Things were gathering pace now, the deception falling nicely into place. In each of them he added their own personal memories of him, little conversations, cases when he had been with individual team members, cases when they had all been together as a group. The hard times, the good times, he blended it all in. Human memory is not really all that good. It's full of gaps, full of inconstancies. As no two human beings see the world from the same perspective they also remember events slightly differently. Usually it's just tiny inconsequential details. Humans rarely completely take in the details of their lives. If Troy filled in all the blanks, if he gave them all perfect memories of the times they had spent together then that would be noticeable as unnatural. It would also require skills beyond even his talents. It was better to have imperfect memories, so Troy made sure that the humans memories were not faultless, not entirely clear, not totally complete, not always absolutely consistent with the recollections of each other.

Angel on the other hand was proving to be a more difficult challenge. Vampires had superior memories and so Angel needed to be given more detail. Also vampire memory was not the same as humans. Vampires stored much more information, more sensory detail; particularly they were better with sights and sounds.

This was concentration of a level Troy had never attempted before. He had successfully altered the memories of a vampire before, but he had not been trying to manipulate four human minds simultaneously. Mentally juggling, keeping everything flowing, his influence reaching deeper and deeper into their minds.

They were all in a trance, and so was he. Troy wasn't speaking any more. It was now crucial that he was not in any way distracted.

He weaved the grand tapestry, the crystal on his bracelet providing stability and allowing his mind to stay closely connected with them. This crystal kept all that he did intact, it made sure that his skilfully arranged false memories did not just fade away under the power of truth.

As far as they knew he had fought alongside them against demon hoards, he had battled in Pylea, he had saved their lives and they had saved his more times that they could count.

And then Troy started to withdraw, the crystal was now the force that kept all of his hard work in place. No matter where they were, no matter how far away they went they were linked to the crystal. Even if they were on the other side of the world they would still believe that he was a champion, a hero and their good friend.

To wrap things up he started to concoct a conversation that was taking place right now. Giving them memories to fill the time that it had taken for him to work his manipulative mind magic. A conversation they had all taken part in, a light hearted little moment in the midst of a long and happy friendship.

They were now utterly convinced. If someone told them the truth now then they would not believe it, they would not conceive that their good friend Troy would ever do anything to harm them. After all he was a man of high principals, deep loyalty, courage and heroism. At least in their minds he was.

Now the conversation continued, suddenly, none of them noticing that they were being released from a trance,

"So any new cases?" Troy enquired with a friendly smile.

"No, not yet, but the night is young." Cordelia replied.

He had done it.

None of them suspected a thing, not one of them had any idea that they had only just met.

The first part was done, all he had to do was keep this up, fine tuning as needed, and live up to the character they believed him to be.

After that, when the time came this little plan would unfold. This scheme dreamt up by the lawyer at Wolfram and Hart would go exactly as intended. The hardest part of his job was over, when this was all done with it would be his greatest achievement.

It was going to be the downfall of these people who he had fooled into trusting him with their lives.

XXX

_Now_

Wesley Wyndam-Pryce looked up from his book, _Poltergeists and other spiritual beings_, when he heard the sound of someone entering the lobby.

"Ah Troy, feeling better?" He inquired.

"Much." Troy replied, the Wolfram and Hart healer had done an excellent job. "How did it go with the poltergeist?" Wesley took a moment before answering.

"Well, it isn't a poltergeist, whatever it is." Wesley said with a hint of annoyance creeping into his voice. He didn't like it when he came up against a paranormal entity that he had no knowledge of.

"It seems to be draining the owners of the house of their energy. And it is also preventing them from leaving the house. Whenever they try the doors and windows refuse to budge. Angel tried to pull Mr Lewis out with him but some force held him inside. Poltergeists concern themselves with moving objects around, making general nuisances of themselves. This thing however, I have no idea." Troy took a seat beside him and picked up another book from the pile Wesley had amassed to search through.

Troy nodded and put on his best puzzled face.

"I'll see what I can find in this one." He said.

"Umm…fine." Wesley said, already lost in the book again. Troy opened the book he had picked up and pretended to be reading one of the passages. He didn't need to read any books to know what the creature Wesley was referring to was. Troy already knew quite a bit about it. Lilah had told him. He also knew that Angel Investigations had no chance of finding anything about it in any of the books, or on any of the occult websites Cordelia and Fred were looking through. And even on the streets Angel wouldn't find anyone who had any idea what the being was. Troy knew this because Lilah had explained that it was something very old that hadn't been on the Earth for several thousand years. The only text in the whole world that had reference to the creature was safely behind the high security of Wolfram and Hart's extensive library of the occult.

XXX

Charles Gunn had never seen anything quite like it. Since the team had arrived at the house the condition of the family living there had been getting worse and worse. They had all been becoming sluggish and weary, starting to look as if they hadn't slept for a week. Since Angel and the others had left him on guard duty they had gotten much worse. All four of them, Mr and Mrs Lewis, and their daughters Kelly (thirteen) and Lisa (ten), were unconscious. Gunn had tried, but he could not get them to wake. Talking, shouting, even shaking them had no effect. And now he was starting to feel a little light headed, and his muscles felt as if lead weights had been attached to them. He couldn't stay in the house any longer, if he wanted to remain in the real world rather than dreamland. He marched over and tried to open the front door. For some reason it didn't open. Gunn checked. It was unlocked. He frowned and tried again and again. Then he began pulling at the handle with both hands, and still the door refused to budge.

Gunn realised that whatever was in the house, whatever had put the family to sleep wasn't going to let him leave. It had started doing whatever it did, to him. With each passing second the feeling of his energy being drained increased.

He made his way back into the living room where the eldest daughter, Kelly was lying on the couch. Gunn went over to the big front window, looking for something to break it with.

He was sure the fatigue hadn't come on so quickly with the family. It must be gaining strength as it drained.

Gunn's legs were beginning to shake under the strain, his arms hung useless at his side. His eyelids begged to be allowed to cover his dry-feeling eyes. Not just his body, but his thoughts were slowing too.

_One minute_. He told himself. Rest _for one minute, and then back to findin' a way out_. He sat on one of the big comfy chairs and closed his eyes.

And let his mind drift into the darkness.

XXX

Angel stepped into _Wicca Wonderland_ a shop dedicated to the magical arts. He had been in the shop a few times before, usually with Wesley, searching for a text of special ingredient. Sylvia, the very old and very small owner of the shop smiled when she saw him.

"Ah, Angel." She greeted from behind the counter, her voice quiet and croaky. Her hair was as usual a wild silver tangle and her plain white clothing, tattered and well worn. The moment Angel had first met her she knew he was a vampire, but also that he had a soul.

Even though it was midnight she was still open for the business that couldn't come out during the day.

"What can I do for you?" She was always ready to help someone fighting for the forces of good. Angel had no idea how old she actually was, she looked ancient, and her eyes had a strange depth to them, stretching back across the years. There were times when Angel wondered if she might be older than he was, but he wasn't sure, and it would be rude to ask.

"Sylvia, I'm here to ask you for your help." Angel put both hands on the counter.

"I know." Of course she did. "How can I be of assistance?"

"There is some sort of being that has taken over a house. It started by moving some stuff around, we thought it might be a restless spirit. But the family seem to be having their energy drained from them." Angel explained.

"Hmm, it is draining them? They are becoming tired. How are they now?" Sylvia asked.

"I'll check." Angel pulled out his mobile and speed-dialled Gunn's phone. He waited for Gunn to answer, but it just kept ringing. Finally:

"Hey this is Gunn, leave a message." There was a beep.

Angel gave up and ended the call.

"He's not answering."

"Then it is safe to assume they are all unconscious. The being must be draining your friend too." The old Wicca nodded grimly.

"You cannot risk returning to the house until it is known what the being is. If it has drained five people then it could prove to be very powerful and dangerous. You must not be taken by it." Angel agreed, he would be no use to the Lewis family, or anyone else if he was being drained by some mysterious force.

"Do you have any ideas on what this thing could be, and how we could stop it?" The woman closed her eyes, losing herself in thought. After a short time she shook her head and reopened her eyes.

"No Angel, I'm sorry, I can't think of anything." Angel was not sure where to turn next. If Sylvia didn't know then who else would?

"Perhaps there is something I have forgotten. If you like we could check my library in the back. I have several rare volumes that may contain something of use." She suggested.

"That would be great, thank you." Angel said, it was the best shot, and to be honest only shot, he had.

XXX

"I'm going to go and get some donuts, any special orders?" Fred stood up and stretched as yet another internet lead bore no fruit.

"You, I'd love double chocolate please." Troy replied and went straight back to researching.

"Hmm?" Wesley murmured, without looking up from what he was reading through. Fred smiled and looked to Cordelia.

"I'll just get a mix." Fred turned and headed for the doors to the outside world, a world that she would have been afraid to go out into not so long ago. "Oh, I'll go over to the house too, I'm sure Charles and the Lewis girls wouldn't say no to sugary goodness."

"Alright, bye." Wesley said absently. Fred took a deep breath and then went outside.

It was only after half an hour of wading through thick volumes on trans-dimensional and spiritual beings that Angel realised that he should warn the others to stay away from the house too. In his focus on searching for any clue to the mystery being, it hadn't crossed his mind.

"Why didn't I think before? I need to make sure no one else goes into that house." Angel pulled out his mobile again and dialled for the Hyperion Hotel where everyone else was researching.

"Angel Investigations, we help the helpless." The cheery greeting on the other side of the line said. It was Troy who had answered.

"Troy I need you to tell everyone to stay away from the Lewis house. Gunn isn't answering his phone."

"Ok, I'll tell them. How are you doing, found out anything on our bad guy?"

"No, nothing so far, how about you guys?"

"Same, but we're still looking." Angel was a little disappointed.

"Ok, let's get back to it. Call me if you get anything at all."

"I will, see you later." Troy hung up. Angel put away his phone and looked back to the ancient and yellowed pages of the book he was on. The way things were going, this could take all night.

XXX

Troy put down the phone.

"That was Angel?" Wesley asked.

"Yeah, he says we've all got to stay away from the house, Gunn isn't answering his mobile. We're assuming that everyone is out cold and being drained." Troy reported. Cordelia suddenly jumped up in alarm.

"Fred said that she was going to the house!" Cordelia exclaimed. Troy and Wesley exchanged worried looks before Wes reached for the nearest phone on the reception desk. He quickly dialled Fred's mobile phone, hoping that he wasn't too late.

XXX

Fred had just arrived at the Lewis house, a big box of donuts under one arm. With her free hand she rapped on the door. She waited a few seconds before knocking again. After a third round of knocking she tried the handle. The door opened easily.

"Hello?" She called. There was no answer. Where were the Lewis', where was Gunn? Fred took tentative steps as she entered the house.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" She asked the eerie silence.

BANG!

Fred jumped, her senses suddenly alert, the hairs on the back of her neck standing straight. She spun round and saw that the front door had closed itself. She didn't like that at all. Whenever anything like that happened in horror movies it was always bad news. Fearing the worst she went and tried the door anyway.

She wasn't surprised to find that the door was immovable. She decided she might as well go deeper into the house and find out what had happened to the others.

Her mobile phone rang loudly, making her jump for a second time; the donuts fell to the floor. Fred quickly pulled her phone out and answered the call.

"Hello." The line was crackling. "Hello?"

"Fred…Fred…ca…u…he…r…e…" The voice was plagued with interference. SH wasn't positive, but she thought that it might be Wesley's voice.

"I'm trapped in the house. I haven't found Gunn of the Lewis' yet. Hello. Hello?" Fred was fairly sure that the voice on the other side was not making out a word she said. The being, the thing inside this house must be creating some sort of field that was disrupting the signal. There was another burst of static as if to confirm her suspicions. Then came another seemingly random jumble of syllables. It was no use. Fred couldn't make any sense of what the caller was saying to her. After a few more attempts to speak and listen she gave up and ended the call.

A wave of dizziness made her put a hand to her forehead. And she knew that whatever inhabited the house was now draining her too.

Slowly she made her was into the living room and saw the unconscious Kelly Lewis and Gunn. She spent a few moments trying to wake them up with no success. Fortunately they were both alive and their pulses and breathing seemed to be normal. Perhaps the being had stopped so that it didn't kill them. This was a good sign; maybe the being didn't have entirely evil intentions.

She knew there was no fighting it. Gunn and the Lewis family hadn't managed it and with no way to escape the house, Fred sat on the only unoccupied seat in the living room and closed her eyes.

XXX

Wesley slammed down the receiver of the telephone.

"I think it may be too late. The line was terrible." He said in a grim tone.

"We need to figure this out fast." Troy said. "We don't know what the being is doing to them. What if the damage is permanent?" Wesley and Cordelia both were silent as their minds began imagining the horrific possibilities. Fred, Gunn and the Lewis family may be lost forever. It was not a prospect either of them were willing to believe in.

Troy outwardly gave the appearance of being as concerned as they were, but inwardly he was pleased at the anxiety his words had caused. His instructions from Wolfram and Hart had been clear: Make sure that Angel Investigations are putting all their resources into finding out what was going in at the house. Make them panicked. And finally deliver them to the house.

What happened after that was a bit of a mystery. And he didn't care, as long as he got his substantial fee. After all six million dollars, half of which he already had, for a few days work was plenty of reason for him to not ask any questions.

Wesley was beginning to think that the answer wouldn't be in any of the many texts in his library. He had looked up everything from restless spirits to invisible demons and still had not found a match that fitted the being in the Lewis house.

Cordelia too was on the verge if giving up. She had tried countless search engines and many combinations of the words: evil, draining, ghosts, spirits, haunting, demons; and many others. After going through site after site, following link after link, she had sill not found anything on the demon, spirit, or whatever, that was behind the latest weirdness.

Both were driven only by the fear that both Gunn and Fred were in grave danger, and the worry that if they didn't find a solution soon then their co-workers, their friends, might never recover.

And so Cordelia typed in another phrase in the search box, and Wesley flicked through the pages of another heavy and ancient volume.

"I'll call Angel, let him know what has happened to Fred." Troy said as the pair of investigators got back to work. He picked up the phone to spread the fear and urgency to the vampire.

XXX

Angel was determined not to give up. Surely somewhere in this vast collection if books there must be a reference, a clue, something. Now that Fred too had been taken in by the "thing" he felt the need to find a way to free the…prisoners. Yes they were prisoners of the being that had taken up residence in the Lewis household.

"What about an exorcism?" He and Wesley had discussed it earlier. Wesley had doubted it would work. Sylvia pondered the suggestion.

"No, I don't think this creature is in any way a restless spirit, or the sort of demon that could be exorcised. I think that this may be living just outside of our plane of existence. Feeding on the energy, maybe it doesn't realise that it is feeding on living beings."

"And maybe it does." Sylvia nodded.

"Yes, there are many possibilities. There is little point in wild speculation."

"I know. I just wish we could find something, anything. People I care about are in there. I need to find a way to help them." Determinedly Angel stood and began, once again, roaming the shelves, scanning the titles in hope.

XXX

Lilah Morgan was very pleased with herself. She knew that she had a certain "creative edge" that had allowed her to solve problems after problem during her employment at Wolfram and Hart. The edge that enabled her to come up with the current operation. It had all come together so perfectly. She had accidentally come across the reference to the Lowantus that now occupied the home of the Lewis family, randomly chosen from the phone book. With the help of one of the many sorcerers in the employ of Wolfram and Hart she had made contact with the creature and made a bargain. It was the easiest part of the plan to drop a card for Angel Investigations through the letterbox just after the Lowantus started making trouble. It had taken her some time to find a sorcerer specialising in memory magics, and finding one skilled enough to pull of the job on Angel Investigations had been ever harder. But with that rare bracelet, acquired from a specialist dealer in London, Troy had been able to do it. She could barely believe that after only an hour Angel and his little gang had completely accepted Trot into their group, utterly convinced that he had been with them for a year. They all even had modified memories of him to back up this belief. And all controlled by that one tiny bracelet and Troy's incredible power of memory manipulation.

If all continued going to plan as it was, Angel and his team of investigators would never be a problem again.

And that would surly impress the senior partners.

XXX

Troy was tense. He couldn't take this much longer. Even under strict orders not to do anything until his employer called he was extremely tempted to move on with the next phase of the operation.

Instead he got up from his seat.

"I'm going to go out, see if anyone I know had any idea what this could be. I might be able to get to people and places Angel can't. He told the others.

"All right, we're not making much progress here. We need to take any chance we have of discovering anything." Wesley said.

"I hope we get this solved. I hate to think that Gunn and Fred may be in pain, or suffering in some other way." Troy was proud at how genuine he sounded, and yet was managing to increase the pressure on Wesley and Cordelia. He then made a swift exit.

Once out of the Hyperion Hotel had had no idea what he was going to do. The waiting and pretending to be busy researching when he knew already what was going to happen next was deeply annoying. He had even considered giving them all some more creative memories to pass the time. But then there would be a serious risk of them realising that something wasn't right. All of his alterations had to be perfect and the more he made the more difficult that would get. He had to make sure there were no holes in his carefully woven deception.

But what could he do? Troy wondered as he walked further and further from the hotel.

After an hour of aimless wandering the phone rang. It was his gracious employer again.

"It's time." Lilah ordered. She then told him where the book he was to deliver to Angel Investigations was to be picked up from. It was a street corner about ten minutes walk from where he was now.

"Understood. They will be at eh house as planned."

"Make sure they are. You won't your money if anything goes wrong." Troy knew she meant it, and that the money he already had wouldn't be with him for long if he failed.

"It will be done." He assured her before hanging up. Troy was going to be very glad once this project was done to the serious business of spending the cash.

XXX

"There is nothing left to check is there?" Angel sat back and closed the book with a thump.

"No. I'm afraid we have exhausted all the possibilities that I can think of." Sylvia confirmed.

"The sun will be up in a couple of hours. After that getting around will be tricky." Angel had no idea what he was going to do now. If Sylvia didn't have the knowledge or the books then he couldn't think of anyone who would.

It was then that he got the call. The good news. Troy had located a book that he was fairly sure had the information they were looking for.

At last things were looking up.

"Thank you, for everything you've done. You'll have to tell me how I can repay you one of these days." Angel smiled as he stood up to leave.

"No, I need no payment. You are a champion, if I can help a champion in any way than that is reward enough." Angel could tell that she really meant it. It wasn't often he came across someone like her. A woman willing to help and not ask for anything in return. Most people he met in his life were usually dark at heart, with the exception of his friends at Angel Investigations, and of course Buffy.

He left the shop and quickly drove back to the hotel. He wanted to get this whole thing over with as soon as possible.

Wesley and Cordelia felt a rush of relief when Troy called and told them about the text he had found. Wesley had even forgotten to ask where he had found it in his excitement.

At last they had a break. Cordelia made a fresh pot of coffee, pouring the cold stuff that had been made earlier on in the night. As Cordy was making the coffee and a few sandwiches Wesley began the task of clearing up all the books and putting them back in their proper places.

At last they had a lead, and a good lead from the sounds of it.

XXX

Angel arrived back at the hotel before Troy.

"Angel." Wesley greeted. "Troy should be here any minute now with the book."

"Good, we should be ready." He said as he closed the door.

"For what?" Cordelia asked.

"Anything." Angel replied, heading for the weapons cabinet. "A fight, a spell, both. Wes could you get together some standard magic ingredients, scented candles, salt, that sort of thing."

"Of course." Wesley went into his office.

"Anything I can do?" Cordelia said as Angel pulled out a freshly sharpened sword and put it down on the floor.

"Actually yeah. I meant to ask, have you had a vision about this case?" Cordelia stopped and shook her head.

"No, I haven't. Do you think that means something?" She hadn't realised.

"I don't think so. I guess the Powers didn't bother since the family decided to call us in themselves." Angel pulled out Troy's sword and set it down beside his weapon.

"Ok guys. Here it is!" Troy called as he dashed through the lobby and put the timeworn red leather book on the reception desk. The others all quickly gathered round.

"Where did you find it?" Wesley asked as he carefully opened it and turned the yellowed pages.

"A friend owned me a favour and he happens to have the biggest library of magical texts I have ever seen." Troy lied. "It didn't take too long to find it once he figured out what I was talking about."

"You'll have to introduce us." Angel said. "Maybe he can help us with the scrolls" Troy nodded his agreement. Finally Wesley stopped when he got to the page they were looking for. Troy was impressed. The page of course was not the genuine article. That was still safely in the Wolfram and Hart copy deep within their vaults. Lilah had said that the other contents of the book were much too valuable to risk. Even in full-proof plan such as this. And the page itself was not identical. Wolfram and Hart had made some modifications to the fake to ensure that the surprise remained secret.

The counterfeit page had been perfectly integrated into this book and even had the same discolouration as all the other pages.

"Ah yes, I think this is it." Wesley ran his index finger over the page as he read. The others waited in anticipation as he did. After what seemed like the length of an uncomfortable six hour coach journey he finally told the others was he had read.

"It is called a Lowantus. It is a very old demon that was last on Earth over six thousand years ago." Troy concentrated hard on Wesley's mind. As he suspected Wesley knew the English translation of Lowantus. If he remembered it would ruin the surprise. He worked hard in that memory, suppressing it as the former watcher's mind tried to surface it. Wesley continued.

"It currently resides in a dimension outside our own. I don't know how but it has managed to reach into our dimension. The creature drains energy from it's victims, until it kills them. However from the other dimension it will be no where near as powerful. From what it says here I doubt it will be able to kill from where it is. It will probably get more powerful the more people it drains from." Wesley paused. "It may be attempting to return to this realm."

"Ok, how do we stop it?" Angel wanted to get this done with as quickly as possible.

"I was getting to that." Wesley looked back at the book and put his finger in the large paragraph at the bottom of the page. "This paragraph details the ritual that will bring the demon back into our realm."

"Do we really want to do that? What if it is ten foot tall with a bazillion claws?" Cordelia pointed out.

Wesley flicked over the page. On the back of the one that had the information on the Lowantus was a fairly detailed illustration.

It was big, arms and legs as thick as tree-trunks, rippled with bulging muscle. Multiple wicked looking claws on both hands feet. A skull twice the size of a human, four horns spiked out from the forehead and row upon row of dagger sharp teeth.

"Friendly lookin' fella isn't he." Cordelia said.

"Quite." Wesley frowned. Troy was now certain that he had been successful in keeping the Lowantus memory well away from his conscious mind.

"It doesn't look to bad. I think we should be able to take it down." Angel said after a moment of studying the picture.

"The biggest problem I can see is that when it becomes solid in our world it will have its full powers." Wesley flicked back to the paragraph on the ritual.

"We could take it out as soon as it appears, before it has the chance to do anything."

"No, unfortunately that won't work." Wesley shook his head. "It wall appear inside the house where ever it is in its dimension. I could appear anywhere within the house.

"We thought of that." Troy said and reached into one of the many pockets on the inside of his robes. "We had enough time to make this before I came back here." He pulled out a small glass bottle of glowing orange liquid. "This potion should counteract the Lowantus' energy draining power." He handed the bottle to Wesley.

The potion was really a marker, again provided by Lilah, which told the demon not to drain from the people who had it in their system while he was in the other dimension.

"Great." Angel said with a grin.

"It would be best if we took it just before going into the house, so that we get the maximum effect." Troy wanted to make sure the demon got the message loud and clear.

"Right, it seems we are ready. We'll have to pick up some supplies for the ritual on the way." Wesley slowly closed the book, as if afraid that closing it quickly could damage the vital page.

"I'll just finish getting the weapons." Angel went back to the weapons cabinet and pulled out a duffle bag. He put his sword in, followed by a pair of knifes, a stake (in case they met a vampire on the way), and a brand new unused axe. Troy picked up his own blade and put it in the scabbard at his waist.

"Let's go." Angel carried the weapons and Wesley carried the book and magical supplies they already had, as the Angel Investigations team marched out to battle.

Troy was the last one out the door; absently he fiddled with the all important memory bracelet. He smiled. The final phase had begun. Soon he would be receiving the other three million from Wolfram and Hart, and Angel plus gang would, presumably, be dead after they met up with the big surprise waiting for them at the house.

**TO BE CONCLUDED…**


	3. Lowantus

"TROY"

**Part Three: Lowantus**

Angel was driving as He, Wesley, Cordelia and Tory were head as fast as he dared on a mission to save the occupants of the Lewis household and their fellow investigators: Gunn and Fred. All of them were ready. All of them knew what had to be done: Perform the ritual to bring the Lowantus fully into our dimension, and then kill it.

Troy was more ready that the others, he knew soothing bad would happen as soon as the ritual was complete. And he was ready to run for his lie the moment things got dangerous. He had had one close call already on this job, when a vampire had almost separated his head from the rest of him. The last thing he wanted was another situation like that. He was going to get away, get his money, and drive off into the cliché sunset.

As he drove Angel had a horrible feeling at the back of his mind. Something was telling him that it had been all too simple. After hours of hear research had turned up absolutely nothing, Troy suddenly announces that he has found the answer, no problems. Something, he couldn't put his finger on, but there was something that was making his suspicious of Troy. Even though he could remember many times in which the Warlock had saved his life. Many times when Troy had stood by his side when the end seemed so near.

Troy sensed the seeds of doubt that were forming in Angel's mind. He made sure his sleeve covered the bracelet and closed his eyes. Focusing on Angel's mind, Troy created a memory.

XXX

What had started out as a simple, two man raid on the apartment of a vampire had suddenly gone wrong for Angel and Troy. They had burst in, expecting to find one vampire, and had instead been confronted with twelve.

It had been an incredibly frantic battle. Vampire after vampire exploded in a swirl of ash. Both of them took some bad injuries.

But they were winning.

And on the final three Angel had been battling hard against one while another armed with a crossbow aimed at Angel's back, targeting his heart. Troy plunged his stake into the chest of the vampire he was fighting and as the demon burst apart he spotted the crossbow wielding demon about to squeeze the trigger.

As Angel stood straight in victory, having defeated his opponent the vampire smirked and then fired. Troy was already moving and dived, intercepting the arrow and taking it in the shoulder.

Angel spun round, shocked at how close he had come to joining the layer of dust that coated the carpet. He quickly threw a stake, embedding point first in the heart of the bloodsucker.

Troy had taken the arrow for him. Troy had saved his life. Troy had put his own life on the line, to save him.

XXX

Angel remembered that night well. The memory easily dispelling any doubts he had about Troy's loyalty to him and the fight against evil. As he took the car round a turn to the right he completely forgot his suspicions and concentrated on the task at hand.

XXX

In the house across the street from the Lewis house, Lilah Morgan watched and waited. The owners of the house were on holiday. She had arranged for a set of first class airplane tickets to Hawaii and ten thousand dollars spending money to be posted to them. This was complete with five-star accommodation, letters from the company where the husband worked giving him paid leave for the two weeks in the sun. The cover story was that they had won a free prize draw, so simple and yet so effective.

Now Lilah and a small surveillance and tactical team occupied the house watching and waiting for the real fun to begin. The cameras hidden inside the Lewis house would provide the pictures that she could already imagine. The defeat of Angel, caught on tape to be watched again and again at her leisure.

Finally one of the biggest thorns in Wolfram and Hart's (and her own) side was about to be permanently removed.

She looked out of the living room window, and then at her watch. There were about two hours before sunrise. The whole operation needed to be concluded by then. Troy should have shown them the book, leading Angel and Co to come here and perform the ritual to bring forth Lowantus.

If they didn't arrive soon then time on this one could get very tight.

But as long as the job got done she would be happy, and so would the Senior Partners. Everything had gone perfectly. Angel had followed the script exactly. She could imagine the praise, the rewards, and a big promotion wouldn't at all be out of the question.

That was a thought to be relished as she awaited her final triumph over Angel.

XXX

Angel and Wesley walked into _Wicca Wonderland_, which to Wesley's surprise was still open at this late, technically early, hour.

"Hello again Angel, hello Mr Wyndam-Pryce." Sylvia greeted them.

"Please, call be Wesley."

"Sorry to bother you again Sylvia." Angel apologised.

"Nonsense young man, it is no bother at all." She smiled kindly. "How can I help you?"

"We are looking for these items" Wesley handed her the list he had made of the things they needed in order to perform the ritual. Sylvia scanned over it and nodded.

"I see no problems." She moved to one of the shelves behind the counter and lifted a box of powder off it. "I take it this has to do with the little problem you were working on earlier." She said as she walked round the counter and picked out a vial of green liquid from a rack.

"Yes, that's right." Angel confirmed.

"Planning to bring the being into our world?" She guessed from the list Wesley had given her.

"Yes, so we can kill it and stop it draining energy from the Lewis family and our friends." Angel said. Sylvia put down what she had gathered from around the shop on the counter and rechecked the list.

"I think that is everything." She packed in all up into a white carrier bag.

"How much do I owe you?" Angel reached for his wallet.

"Oh don't worry about it. You have bought plenty from me in the past, and I suspect I'll be seeing you again. You go and help those that need it." She handed the bag to Angel.

"If you're sure."

"Of course I'm sure. Get going."

Angel and Wesley said their goodbyes to Sylvia and went straight back to the car.

They now had everything they needed to bring the Lowantus to the form needed for them to fight him.

Troy sat back in his seat and tried to keep calm. These were the most crucial moments. If for some reason the spell broke, or he lost his mental strength, everything would be ruined. And from what he had heard about Wolfram and Hart you didn't get to make a second mistake. If this didn't go right he would be a dead man.

The car slowed as Angel pressed his foot gently on the break pedal. Once the car had stopped everyone quickly got out.

XXX

Gunn, Fred and the Lewis' were completely unaware of the world. The Lowantus was getting impatient. The deal was simple. After all this time trapped in this dull and lifeless world, without even a body, he floated in limbo. Boredom. Endless boredom. And plenty of time to think. Time to dream what he would do once he was free. The revenge that he could enact. The many descendants of those who had put him here all those years ago shouldn't be to hard for him to trace.

The he could get back to the business of causing havoc, death and all the other things he loved doing.

They had contacted him. He expected someone would eventually. They had made him and offer he couldn't refuse.

And of course Wolfram and Hart would probably want something in return for their assistance in getting him out, but that wouldn't be a problem.

He was getting a lot out of this deal. Freedom, and the greatest prize of all:

The rarest of it's kind.

XXX

"Yuck!" Cordelia shivered in disgust after she swallowed a mouthful of Troy's anti-draining potion. She handed the bottle to Wesley.

"Is it really that bad?" Wesley took a deep breath to work up the courage and then took a swig. His face then wrinkled in revulsion.

"Oh my, I don't think I have every tasted anything so…" But he couldn't quite find the word.

"Satan himself couldn't have concocted a more revolting brew." Angel said.

"Couldn't have put it better myself." Wesley swirled saliva in his mouth and swallowed, trying to get rid of the taste.

"Only you to go." Wesley gave the bottle to Troy. He took the last of it. It tasted horrible, but he knew he needed it to avoid being drained the moment he enter the house.

XXX

Lilah grinned as the car pulled up in front of the house. So Troy had pulled it off after all, the end of Angel's pitiful attempt to correct his past wrongs.

After that, the end of everything else wouldn't be too far behind. She lifted her radio to her mouth.

"All teams get ready. Move in on my signal. Leave the vampire, anyone else is fair game. Any screw-ups and you die, simple as that." She knew nothing would go wrong now.

Victory was within sight.

XXX

"Everybody ready?" Angel stood outside the door of the Lewis house, the others behind him. They all said they were. Angel had been invited into the house when he was there earlier, and so there was no obstruction to him walking right in after opening the door.

The house looked exactly the same. There was no sign at all that anything was amiss. No sign that the house was being occupied by a demon in another dimension.

Troy was the last in and he closed the door behind them. Angel led the team into the living room.

XXX

Lowantus sensed them as they entered. Four of them. All marked as those who were to be his. If he had facial muscles, vocal chords and lungs, he would be laughing heartily. No matter, there would be plenty of time for laughter when he was out in the real world.

Laughter.

As he understood it they thought they were here to defeat him. In reality they were committing suicide and unleashing him onto the unsuspecting world.

Then he could laugh for real, over their lifeless bodies.

XXX

All of the furniture had been pushed to the sides of the living room, including the couch Kelly Lewis lay on and the chairs Gunn and Fred were out cold on. Wesley, Angel and Troy were busy setting up for the ritual. Cordelia went around and check all of the victims of the creature to make sure they were still alive.

Thankfully they all were, their slow breathing made it difficult to tell for a few moments. They didn't have the peaceful look of sleep, but an indescribable aura of anguish. Something that drove home the urgency of the situation.

Their silence was deafening.

Referring closely to the book Wesley directed the ritual with the precision of a Hollywood master.

A wide powder circle of various ground up herbs, spices, salts, and other more unusual items like crushed eggshells and speckles of shattered glass, had been made. Troy's expertise in magical arts proved to be invaluable in the creation of this powder. A second circle of bright flamed candles, each holding a different scent was then arranged. Between the two circles, at the four points of the compass, small glass orbs were placed.

As each stage of the elaborate ritual was built up Wesley paused the proceedings to read a chant from the book.

"Cordelia, could you find some paper and a pen and make three copies of this paragraph?" Wesley asked and pointed out the passage he meant.

"Sure thing." She took the book from him and turned to leave on her hunt for pen and paper.

"Wait! Sorry could you bring me a sheet of paper and a pen. I forgot that no one else will be able to read this part. The pronunciation is critical. However I believe that translated into English you may all find it easier."

"Ok, and that won't have an effect on the ritual?"

"No, it shouldn't." Wesley took the book back off of her.

"Right. Pen and paper." She dashed off to go and find the stationary.

"Troy, would I be right in assuming you know the Sassh'nar'te symbols for north, east, south and west?"

"Yes." Troy nodded. The demonic Sassh'nar'te cult had a particular talent for demon dimensions. The four directions often played an important part in travel to the more unusual demon dimensions, especially those that were used as prisons.

"Could you take the mixture that Angel has been stirring and use it to paint them at the compass points." He motioned to the circle. "And the symbol of a portal in the centre. Make sure you leave space for the final stages." Troy had in his studies of demonology over the years used Sassh'nar'te symbols on several rituals. Though usually he was getting paid to send someone to a demon dimension.

"And use this brush." Wesley pulled out a brush with an ornately decorated handle, covered in the shapes and symbols of the long dead Sassh'nar'te cult.

"No problem." Troy went over to Angel, took the mixing bowl from him and set about the task of artistically ruining the Lewis' living room carpet with the green blend of magical ingredients.

A ruined carpet in exchange for life was a good deal.

With great care he began painting the first symbol, north.

Cordelia returned with a wad of paper and a handful of pens retrieved from the little home office upstairs.

"Excellent," Wesley said as he took it al off of her. He went over to a clear space at the back of the room and sat with the book open in front of him. He clicked a pen and began writing as neatly as he could the translation for the ritual.

Angel had brought a flask of blood. In a fairly large bowl he poured until the bowl was just over half full. Into it he sprinkled a handful of salt, a small amount of freshly squeezed orange juice and a small vial of holy water, being careful not to spill any on himself. Using a small whisk he mixed the in the ingredients. Then he cracked two eggs into the blend. He whisked the whole lot thoroughly until it was a dark red, darker and thicker than blood.

"Ok guys, ready for your part." He then spat into the bowl. Cordelia came over and looked down at the liquid.

"Can I just say, yuck!" Then she too spat. The ritual required that the mixture contained the saliva of the four who were performing the ritual.

Wesley finished the phrase he was on and then came over and added his saliva before quickly going back to finish the translation.

"Troy." Angel said. "Your turn." Troy was finishing off the east symbol. As soon as the last stroke was done he stood and admired his handiwork. He nodded in satisfaction. Then he joined Angel and Cordelia to make his contribution. Once he had he returned to the circle and began to paint the south symbol.

Angel again started whisking.

"Cordelia." Wesley called and waved her over. "Here, copy this exactly. I will make the other copy we need from the book."

"No problem." She took his translation and went through to the dining room where she could sit and carefully rewrite it in peace.

XXX

When all four copies if the translation were ready and the final centre symbol had been painted by Troy, Angel poured his mixture into four smaller bowls. The bigger bowl went on top of the centre symbol.

Each of them stood at a compass point. Wesley at north, Cordelia at east, Troy at south and Angel at west. They all held one of the smaller bowls and a translation.

"Everyone ready?" Wesley asked. They all nodded and murmured confirmations of their readiness.

"Then let's begin." The four of them all stepped forward taking slow synchronised paces. When they reached the centre they stopped.

"In this house, in this place." They poured a little from their small bowls into the big bowl and still pouring, they walked backwards, steps in time to the rhythm of their words.

"In this time, in this place. We call upon the power." They stopped at their compass points and brought the bowls level.

"Let the old become new, let the banished be returned. Here and now, we call."

XXX

In the other dimension the Lowantus could feel that it had begun. There was a tingle in his being, a pulling to the world where he had once roamed. His hunger increased. In a few short minutes his reign of terror could fall upon the earth.

XXX

"Together we four stand. Together we four have the strength to restore the evil that once was. Return to us Lowantus, let the barrier be cast open and may you walk this land from which you were exiled from." In the centre of the circle, about a foot off the ground, a black, lightning charged cloud began to form.

"Let the barrier fall. Let the walls of our worlds fade." The cloud grew. Bright blots of lightning arched between the orbs at the compass points and the cloud.

"Return Lowantus." They tipped the remainder of the mixture in their bowls onto the orbs at their feet. The flashes became brighter and faster.

XXX

Yes! Lilah's heart was racing. Angel and the others were almost done. The pictures from the living room cameras were getting fuzzy, but she could still make out the general idea of what was happening. Any moment now the house would fill with death.

"Everyone be ready for my signal." She hissed into the radio.

XXX

"Return!!" Angel, Cordelia, Wesley and Troy yelled at the top of their voices.

The black cloud suddenly exploded in a blinding flash. A wave of light ripple out of the circle and consumed the house. Momentarily blinded the team waited for their vision to return, reaching for their weapons at the same time.

Somewhere in the house the Lowantus had arrived. Safe in the knowledge that they were protected from its worst powers they began to blink away the blurriness.

Troy knew differently though and was blinking frantically so he could get his vision back and escape as quickly as he possibly could.

There was a growl in the air. It was close, very close.

Troy felt hot breath on the back of his head. He froze in fear. When finally he returned to his senses he spun, bringing his sword up. The demon blocked with a clawed hand and then slapped Troy across the room. Troy smashed into the wall, and slid down to the ground in a rain of broken plaster.

Their sight returned and he Lowantus came into view, exactly as the illustration had shown.

"You have freed me fools!" Lowantus snarled. "Do you not realise what you have unleashed?!" As if to prove his point he leaned forward slightly, closed his eyes and raised his arms in the direction of the sleeping Kelly Lewis. Then his mouth opened wide. A gust of ancient wind and a pure white energy was torn from her unconscious body. The pure light's tendrils broke free from the body and then the light swept straight to the mouth of the Lowantus. He grinned and wiped his mouth.

Wesley was stunned by what he had seen. For some reason a memory he had not recalled earlier came to mind.

Lowantus translated as "Eater of Souls"

"Angel, keep away!" He yelled and moved in, making a double handed swing with his shiny axe. The Lownantus laughed and batted the side if the blade, the axe spinning away and embedding in the floor. Wesley called again to Angel.

"It's a soul eater." He managed to say just before a mighty blow from the demon sent him crashing into the magical circle.

Angel regarded the demon with newfound fear. This thing was of horrific danger to him. Having his soul consumed by the demon would not be fatal as it would be to anyone else. It would result in Angelus, the terrifying evil demon within being unleashed upon the world. If consumed there would be no hope of his soul ever being restored.

"Vampire!" The Lowantus cried. Angel took a step back, his sword held out in front of him in a defensive position.

Troy shook the shadows form his mind and tried to focus again on the world around him. His entire body screamed out in pain, but despite it he got to his feet.

Angel and the demon were facing off. He made his way over, the demon was blocking the door.

Cordelia had no idea what she should do. Troy and Wesley had been tossed away like rag dolls, the demon had just eaten a soul. What good could she possibly do? She looked over to the lifeless body of Kelly Lewis, feeling deep sorrow for the girl they had failed to help.

Troy kept his movements slow and controlled, the demon remained focused on Angel.

"Your soul is the rarest of all. The soul of a vampire is not something I have ever had before."

"And you never will."

Troy suddenly dashed forward, his muscles burning. But he wasn't fast enough. A blurred movement as the Lowantus snapped his hand out and grabbed Troy's robes. Then threw the Warlock out of the living room window.

In a shower of glass and wooden frame, Troy flew through the air. Tiny pieces of glass cutting through the skin in his face and arms.

XXX

Lilah suddenly leaned forward, her eyes widening in horror. The fool! Troy had bee trying to run away and had interrupted the Lowantus just as he was about to take Angel's soul. Now he flew out of the window and came to a painful landing half way across the road.

"Take it! Take the soul!" Lilah hissed at the Lowantus on the small TV screen.

XXX

Troy heard a sickening crack as he landed. And he knew that he had broken no bones. His body had hit with his arms first.

He looked to his wrist. The bracelet's central crystal a crushed, powder on the road.

And the spell was shattered.

XXX

Angel staggered back as fiery pain stabbed into his mind.

Cordelia too felt the pain, she wondered if the Powers were sending her a vision at this quite ridiculous moment.

Even Wesley, who was already hurting, moaned with fresh agony.

The Lowantus frowned, not sure what to make of this sudden display of weakness from his prey.

Images. Thoughts. Memories.

All flashed through their minds. False memories faded and the real resurfaced out of the obscure.

And at the same moment they realised that Troy was behind it all. He wasn't who they all believed him to be. He had been manipulating them for the past few days. They hadn't really known and worked with him for a year. A year's worth of life vanished and was replaced by and entirely different version of events.

The betrayal stabbed into their souls. Troy, their friend. Troy the warrior for light, fighting to avenge the murder of his wife. Troy who had led them to this house, had shown them the ritual.

It was all lies. Troy, wasn't Troy, but an incredible magicakal manipulator.

They couldn't believe it. It had to be a trick. It couldn't be. Not Troy who had…But all the false memories were fading, the lies became transparent.

Angel felt a surge of anger. Troy! He had done this. He had put Gunn and Fred in danger. He had tricked them into freeing a terrifying, soul-eating demon.

The Lowantus raised his arms, happy to take advantage of the vampire's bizarre actions. Closing his eyes he opened his mouth. It was time to feast.

XXX

Troy stood and looked over to the house across from the Lewis'. He knew she was there, and even though he couldn't see her he knew she was watching him.

Troy could only hope that Angel was defeated and that Lilah Morgan would be pleased enough to forget the fact that his spell had broken.

He turned his back on her and took a step forward she he could better see what was happening in the house.

XXX

Angel suddenly felt it.

The tight grip of the Lowantus taking hold of his soul. He could feel it being torn from him. The demon within was suddenly active, pushing forward, seeing an opportunity to finally be free of the soul that kept him restrained.

Cordelia was the first to recover, she was used to a lot worse pain in her head from her visions. She charged forward at the Lowantus as the demon took hold of Angel's soul. The shining light holding on by only a few tendrils of energy.

She moved with speed she never knew she had, raising her axed over her head.

Angel fought hard to keep a hold, but with each passing moment Angelus became stronger and stronger. He felt the demon inside break free, his face becoming that if the vampire beast. And suddenly he wasn't Angel any more. He was glad to finally be rid of the soul and this time it would never, ever be coming back.

The soul was hanging by only a few rapidly thinning tendril. His features turning from human to vampire.

Angelus was victorious.

Cordelia brought the axe down hard, her aim a little off but she still managed to hit the demon. The blade sliced into the outstretched forearm, crunching to a stop as it hit bone through the thick layers of muscle. A smattering of gooey yellow blood splattered on her face. She winced in disgust.

Lowantus glared at her, his concentration shattered.

Angel fell to the floor the soul snapping back into the body.

Inside Angelus screamed and fought against the dazzling energy. But it was no use. The soul once again overwhelmed him and suppressed his evil.

Angel still unsure if he was Angel or Angelus. Then he saw Cordelia, and the horror he felt as he watched her tossed to the ground. His feeling convinced him. He still had his soul.

His face returned to human form.

Drawing energy from that fact he got up to his feet. Troy's betrayal could wait. Now he had to focus on killing the Lowantus.

The demon pulled the axe out of his arm, the wound instantly started to heal, and then he grinned at Angel.

"I'm going to have your soul vampire, it is pointless to resist." He then tossed the axe. The blade spinning through the air straight for Angel's head.

Trusting his speed and strength Angel reached out and grabbed the handle of the axe, stopping the blade a millimetre from his forehead. It wouldn't have been a fatal injury, but it would have taken him down so that the demon could consume his soul.

Angel twisted the axe one hundred and eighty degrees and sent it flying back at the Lowantus.

The demon had no trouble swatting the axe away before it reached him.

"No you aren't taking anymore, not ever."

"Sounds like a challenge."

"Oh it is." Angel brought his sword up and dashed forward. The demon easily side-stepped and jabbed the claws of his right hand at Angel's face. Bringing his left arm up in protection Angel stabbed the Lowantus in the side, just below the ribs, as simultaneously the demon's claws tore into his arm, ripping the sleeve of his shirt.

Both combatants pulled back in pain. Lowantus took strength from his unconscious victims, no longer restricted by the dimensional barrier. He would slowly drain them, using them to replenish as much of his strength as possible before he killed them. And the power of the soul that he had just consumed further fuelled him.

With all this he managed to speed the healing of his wounds. Before Angel's eyes the wounds of the Lowantus began to close.

"Wesley!" He called. The former watcher stirred. "Get everyone out of here!" Wesley nodded as he got to his feet, a trickle of blood running down the left side of his face.

Then Angel turned his attention back to the demon.

"You want my soul, come and get it!" The Lowantus snarled, Angel didn't have to need to ask the Lowantus twice.

XXX

Wesley scrambled over and helped Cordelia to her feet.

"We need to get everyone out." He said. Together they lifted Gunn out of the chair.

"You're not going anywhere!" The Lowantus kicked Angel to the ground and then stooped to snatch one of the glass orbs used in the ritual. He threw it hard. The orb smashed on Cordelia's head and she instantly collapsed, a flow of blood from above the hairline.

Gunn fell back into the chair.

Wesley tried to wake Cordelia, but she was as unconscious as Gunn. He lifted her and dashed across the room for the door.

The Lowantus made to stop him but Angel slashed the demon's back, making him howl in pain.

Wesley managed to get away and he awkwardly opened the door to the outside world. He ran out with Cordelia in his arms and set her gently down on the front lawn. He looked back and saw through the broken window that Angel wasn't faring fell.

Lowantus grabbed Angel by the neck and thrust him vertically in the air, Angel's head smashing into the ceiling and the demon released him, letting gravity crash him to the floor.

Wesley started heading for the door to go back inside and help Angel.

"Wesley." A voice called. Wesley froze. The voice of the betrayer, the evil manipulator who was the cause of all this. He spun round and glared at Troy.

"What do you want?" Wesley demanded.

"I can't let you go back in." Troy said, raising his sword and pointing it threateningly at Wesley.

"You'll seriously try to kill me?"

"I won't try. If you attempt to go back in, I _will_ kill you.

XXX

Angel was back on his feet, sword in hand, and fighting the Lowantus again. In his life time, particularly the last few years he had fought many powerful demons.

"Give it up! The vampire wants to be free. Because of that, you cannot win." Lowantus was right. Angelus stirred within, refusing to give up after coming so close to triumph a few minutes ago.

"No. Angelus will never get free. Ever. No way, not ever." The beast within screamed it's protest.

"It's only a matter of time." Angel swooped in and swung his blade down. With his right hand the Lowantus hit the side of the blade, deflecting it away. With his left he slammed the palm into Angel's face. Angel flew backwards through the air and smashed into the same wall Troy had been thrown into. Chunks of plaster fell upon him.

Through bleary vision Angel saw Lowantus raising his arms preparing to try for his soul again. Angel analysed the situation. The demon was obviously stronger and faster than he was. And it healed incredibly fast. Worst of all when it did heal Gunn and Fred's conditions got worse. Their breathing was hard, their hearts beating wildly.

He couldn't just hurt the Lowantus until victory, because that would hurt Gunn and Fred too. But the demon seemed invincible. He had no idea how he could possibly land a killing blow without the big fight, and he wasn't even sure where he should strike. There were several types of demon who could recover from a seemingly deadly wound.

But he couldn't let it take his soul, he had to fight back. Angel pushed off the plaster and stood.

"I'm not done yet." He gritted his teeth. "Not by a long shot."

XXX

Wesley noticed that Troy's sword arm was shaking; He was in pain from being thrown around by the Lowantus. An opportunity could present itself, so he needed to be ready. Wesley nodded and slowly walked toward Cordelia.

"I assume there are no objections to me helping her?"

"No." Troy shook his head, keeping the sword pointed at him. Wesley knelt beside her, taking a handkerchief from his pocket and pressed it against Cordelia's injury, the fabric soaking up the blood

"I must congratulate you on a job well done." Wesley said, not taking his eyes from Cordelia. "You had us all completely fooled." He looked up and saw the broken bracelet. "That bracelet. It kept you in control."

"Yes. It did. It helped to amplify my power, and kept the whole spell stable."

Their was an uneasy silence, the only sounds coming from the battle raging inside the house.

"Do you realise what you have done?" The demon eats souls. Do you know how evil a creature has to be in order to do that? And what about Angel? If he loses his soul…the results would be catastrophic."

Troy didn't reply. Keeping his mouth shut was the best course of action. The Lowantus, Angelus, none of that meant anything to him. Soon he would be well away from L.A and whatever happened next.

The pain was getting worse. He had landed hard. He was now fairly certain he had cracked at least one rib.

"Why?" Wesley asked as he shifted the position of the bloody handkerchief.

Troy remained silent. He had nothing to say.

And she was just across the road.

XXX

A few minor hiccups but everything was still well on course. When the time came she was ready to charge in with the tactical team and make Angelus the offer of a lifetime. Lilah was going to offer Angelus a prominent place in the Wolfram and Hart apocalypse.

Troy was doing a good job preventing any help reaching Angel, not that Wesley Wyndam-Pryce would be able to anything to the mighty Lowantus.

Lilah Morgan, Angelus and the Lowantus. Now that would be a fantastic partnership!

XXX

The stand off continued. Angel keeping well out of reach of the claws of the Lowantus. At the same time he was not making any attempt to strike the demon. Until he figured out a way of this he had to just keep the stalemate going.

"You are only delaying the inevitable!" And Angel could feel in his fatigued muscles that he wouldn't be able to delay for much longer. And he knew then what he needed to do. With a diving roll he evaded another swing from Lowantus. Once up on his feet he leapt clear through the living room window.

"Where are you going?" Lowantus screamed. Angel landed on his feet and looked back to the demon.

"Let's go. You and me. Let's go and finish this!" Angel shouted. The demon was going to win. He knew it, the demon knew it. Angel wanted to get himself and the Lowantus away from those he cared about before he was defeated.

"You want the soul? You need to work for it!" The Lowantus roared and then in a massive jump went through the window. He was bigger and a lot less agile than the vampire so his body demolished the window frame and part of the house's outer wall. At the same time Angel turned and sprinted for the car.

The demon pounded down onto the front lawn, leaving a pair of craters. After a moment he started running after his prey.

Angel was in the drivers seat, engine already started. He floored the accelerator, escaping a half second before the Lowantus' claws ripped into the car.

Roaring again in rage the Lowantus gave chase.

XXX

In the moment that the evil demon smashed his way out of the house Wesley made his move, lashing out at Troy's sword hand with his right foot.

Distracted by the grand exit of the Lowantus, Troy was caught by surprise and the sword flew free of his grip.

Wesley followed up with a right hook across Troy's face. The Warlock stumbled back and Wesley dived for the sword.

But Troy had recovered quicker than he had expected and grabbed on to the back of his jacket, pulling him hard. Wesley used Troy's force and kept going spinning round to drive his fist into Troy's ribs. The already cracked ribs loudly broke. Troy staggered back with a cry. Wesley swooped in and snatched up the sword.

He heard the tyres screech and the roar of the demon as Angel led the Lowantus away from the house.

"Try anything, and I will have to kill you." Wesley said firmly, looking Troy hard in the eye to make sure he got the message.

Troy looked down to the ground, stumbling forward.

Then in sudden burst of movement he whipped out a knife from within his robes and pounced for Wesley.

But he wasn't quick enough.

Wesley slashed the blade horizontally, the very tip catch Troy's throat, a splatter of blood rained down on the grass.

The knife fell from the hand of the wide-eyed Troy. His forward movement caused him to fall to his knees. His mouth wide open, desperate for oxygen.

Wesley had sliced right through the windpipe. Troy frantically tried to stop the bleeding with his hands, pressing the two sides of the gushing wound with his fingers. Blood flowed between his fingers, the waterfall through the jagged rock.

A cough and blood spurted from his mouth.

With a final accusing glare at Wesley, Troy went face down, dead to the world.

XXX

The Lowantus was keeping up easily with the convertible as Angel coxed as much speed as he could from the engine. He made random turns in an attempt to gain ground over the demon, but it wasn't really working.

He came to a long straight, making no turns. He needed to split his concentration between driving and an urgent call on his mobile.

When the quick call was done he resumed his random pattern of turns.

After what seemed like forever he slammed on the brakes and was out of the car before the demon reached him. Now all he could do was fight and hope for the best.

"Coward! Face me! Face your defeat." The Lowantus exclaimed.

"It's time we finished this." Angel reached and pulled out the sword from the backseats of the car.

"Yes. It is." The Lowantus grinned.

XXX

Lilah had not been ready when Angel had made his quick getaway. She had dispatched the team in a car parked around the corner to give chase. When her attention returned to the events outside the house she saw Wesley deliver a vicious slice across Troy's throat.

She felt no sorrow that he was dead. He had it coming to him anyway. It was part if the plane that he was supposed to die. The Lowantus was supposed to take his soul. No matter. And there was the added bonus that Wesley and co now had no way of finding out that she was here, across the street, watching the show. In fact they probably wouldn't have any idea Wolfram and Hart were involved until Angelus started working for the firm.

Any moment now she expected the call from the chase team. She expected the news that Angelus had returned.

XXX

Gunn, Fred and the Lewis family slowly came out of the front door looking dazed and bewildered.

"Wesley." Gunn ran over and joined him as Fred continued comforting the Lewis family on the loss of their daughter. Gunn was obviously completely worn out. He flopped down beside Wesley who was sitting beside the still unconscious Cordelia.

"Is she going to be alright?" Gunn asked nodding to Cordy.

"Yes she'll have a terrible headache when she wakes up, but she will be fine." Her head wound had stopped bleeding. Fortunately it wasn't too deep.

"The family are takin' it pretty bad."

"That's to be expected. I just wish we could have saved the girl." Wesley sighed.

"Where's Angel?" Gunn looked round and couldn't see him anywhere.

"He got the demon to follow him in the car. They'll probably be in the middle of the big fight about now."

"And if Angel loses its Angelus murder spree time again."

"Yes." Wesley shuddered at the thought of having to battle against Angelus.

"Let's hope he doesn't lose."

"Hope is all we can do." They both looked to Troy's dead body. Neither of them accepting that their friend, who had seemingly fought alongside them for the past year had actually only known them for a few days and was behind a plot to remove Angel's soul.

They felt betrayed.

Troy the friend had suddenly become Troy the enemy. The dead enemy.

XXX

Sword and claws clashed as Angel in full vampire mode battled the Lowantus.

Another failed block resulted in one of the claws tearing across his cheek.

Angel was losing the fight. Every attempt he made to attack the demon blocked and followed up with a devastating blow of his own.

Angel ducked a left-right attack from the Lowantus and stabbed hard, the sword piercing the stomach of his enemy. At last he had scored a hit.

The demon bellowed a cry of pain and anger that rattle the windows of the nearby buildings. He back-handed Angel and then snapped out his foot, smashing into Angel's chest, lifting the vampire off his feet.

Angel flew back, his sword falling from his fingers and with a thud he dropped into the back seats of the convertible. Straining his arm muscles he pulled himself up and climbed back out. His legs shaking, threatening to collapse under him. But he gritted his teeth and ran once more at the Lowantus, scooping up his sword from the road.

"Why do you fight? When you want to be free of the soul that binds you!" Lowantus asked as he stood unmoving, blocking Angel's swings only with his right arm. Angel didn't answer, instead focusing on trying to kill the demon. He found hope when he noticed that the Lowantus' wound was not healing as fast as the wounds in the house. He wasn't draining from the Lewis family, Gunn and Fred. But it didn't depend entirely on draining as the wound was still repairing at a supernatural rate. Angel's own injuries were not healing at anywhere near the speed of the Lowantus'. If this came down to how long they could slug it out for, Angel would be the loser.

"Enough." The Lowantus said simply and snatched out, wrapping his left hand round the blade of the sword. Yellow demon blood oozed between his fingers. With his right the Lowantus jabbed with his claws, the sharp points piercing through Angel's shoulder. He pulled the claws out and then yanked the sword from Angel's hand. It clattered to the ground and Lowantus drove a clenched fist into the vampire's face, breaking the nose. Angel, blood pouring from nose and seeping into his shirt from the shoulder punctures, stumbled back, pain spreading through his mind like wildfire. Finally the demon kicked, catching Angel under the chin. Angel's head snapped back and he landed hard on the ground.

Angel felt wet blood slick on his face, tasting it in his mouth. Bright colours flashed in his vision.

The Lowantus was victorious. He raised his arms in front of him.

Closing his eyes he focused on the hunger for souls deep within him. At last he was about to take the rarest soul in the world, a vampire soul. Opening his mouth, the magical pulling power began.

Angel could do nothing. Once again the beast was stirring. Angelus sensed that there was no hope that Angel would kill the Lowantus. He was free. Impatiently Angelus began fighting to the surface of Angel's semi-consciousness.

The bright burning light of Angel's soul was being torn from his helpless body. The tendrils, one by one by one, breaking its ties from the body. Lowantus could almost taste the ultimate purity that was a soul.

Angel could feel it, ripping and pulling away, the angry monster that the soul kept at bay was rapidly taking over. Evil thoughts. Killing. Destruction. A strong desire to feast on the sweet blood of a terrified human. The venomous darkness like a cancer filling the void left by the cursed soul.

Angel wanted to stop the evil, stop it from hurting anyone else. Stop him from a reign of violence. Stop him from hurting those he cared about, as the evil desired.

Two minds, equally dominant.

Angelus wanted to relive the great massacres of the past; he wanted to see innocents slaughtered. He wanted to kill Cordelia and Wesley and Gunn and Fred. He wanted to torture them, relish in their excruciating suffering, before finally letting them die. Very painfully, very slowly.

But at the same time he was disgusted by his own mind.

No longer equal.

Angelus was taking over. The good thoughts giving way to the bad. As the Lowantus continued to pull at his soul Angel felt himself fading into the background.

The last of the tendrils slipped free. Only a single hair's breath fibre of his soul held on.

Angelus grinned. In the end he had won the long battle against his redemptive side. And this time no gypsy curse could ever defeat him. The soul was gone. Forever.

The last tiny tendril narrowed. The final hope fading.

Eye lids opened. Eyes rolled up.

The head of the Lowantus tumbled off his shoulders, cleanly sliced off by an axe. The body exploded with a flash of dazzling orange flame, bright red particles scattering into a wide cloud, and then turning to deep crimson. And then all that was left of the demon was smoky wisps on the night air.

As if it was elasticised the single microscopic strand snapped the soul back into the body.

Angelus screamed.

Agony as blazing light shone brightly into the evil destructive darkness. Light drove back Angelus who had no choice but to yield and shrink back into that dark place where he always lurked. Banished, back to where he could no longer do any harm to anyone.

Angel was restored from the brink of oblivion.

Angelus still trying to surface, but couldn't. He was trapped, back in his powerless place.

All the pain of his injuries returned. But the knowledge that he still had his soul, seemed to dull the hurt.

Angel opened his eyes and saw the smiling face of his saviour.

Sylvia held a long handled axe in her hands, it was almost comically too big for her small frame.

"Thanks." Angel managed to gasp with a half hearted grin. He had stopped the car in front of Wicca Wonderland, after calling Sylvia, informing her of the situation and the demon's weakest moment: when it was taking his soul.

She had been glad to help and promised that she would be there if she was needed.

"This axe has been waiting, unsold in my shop for many years." Sylvia put he axe down, the yellow blood coated blade gleaming in the moonlight.

"I'm glad." He saw her in a new light. It must have taken quite a bit of strength for her to decapitate the Lowantus. She offered a hand to him. He took it and she pulled him to his feet. Yes, there was a hidden power to her. Angel stood tall and straight in spite of the pain from his injuries.

"And the fight goes on." She said. He had the strangest feeling she knew more than she was letting on.

"Yes. The fight goes on. There are plenty more people out there looking for help." He wondered if she would elaborate, if she would confirm his suspicions of what she knew. And he could see in her eyes that she knew exactly what he was thinking. After a few seconds she broke the silence.

"You better call you friends, let them know you're still you."

"Yeah, I guess I should." Angel reached into his pocket, and slowly pulled out the crushed remains of his mobile phone. "Uhh, can I use your phone?"

XXX

Wesley flipped his phone closed.

"Angel is ok, hurt, but he'll live." He told the others. Cordelia was now awake and sitting up.

"How do we know it's really him? I mean he might just be pretending." She had seen what Angelus could do, seen what a manipulator he could be.

"Sylvia was with him. She confirmed that the Lowantus is dead and that Angel still has his soul." Wesley smiled. "We won."

Cordelia looked over to the grieving Lewis family.

"Did we?"

Wesley had no answer.

XXX

Lilah was furious. She threw her radio hard against the wall after the tactical team leader told her that the Lowantus was dead and that Angel was still in possession of his soul. She couldn't understand why this always happened. The whole plan had been perfectly organised, and perfectly executed. At least this time there was little mess to clean up. The biggest loose end would have been Troy, but Wesley had seen to that potential problem. Her superiors would not be pleased, but the tactical team and Troy made easy scapegoats.

All that was left to do was clear up the observation post. Then she could begin planning her next move in the long game against Angel and his team of investigators.

Sunrise had been a few minutes ago. Angel Investigations had all gone to their respective homes to recover from their injuries, and rest after a long hard night's work.

Angel took a large and very much needed gulp of pig's blood from the glass, thankful that he was here, and that it was pigs, not human, blood he was drinking.

Angelus was safely contained.

But only contained. Never gone. Never forgotten.

Pure evil was always there, never completely silent, always trying to get out. Always trying to make him kill and destroy.

Troy.

Angel still had absolutely no idea why Troy did what he did. Why had Troy gone to so much trouble? Surely the magics involved in such a complex memory manipulation must have been extremely difficult. What did Troy have against him, what possible reason could there have been?

Now that Troy was dead Angel knew that the motive will remain a mystery to him forever.

The magic strong enough to leave parts of the false memories lingering, the false trust must be powerful. A part of him still couldn't quite believe that Troy had been evil. He couldn't believe that the real memories were the truth and that the falsehoods were lies

The memories would probably fade away. But Troy's betrayal would stay.

At least he was safe in the knowledge that he would never have to feel such a devastating betrayal like that ever again.

**THE END**


End file.
